Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Here is the fourth block I made for Ringo Piepatchwork bee. This is the only bee I'veever participated in, but it has been veryinteresting. I didn't realize how fun a bee can be!

Erica asked for a union jack block made withvintage fabric and solid fabric. I had great helpfrom a union jack queen Lynne to make this. Sheis fabulous. This is the only block ever among thefour that I never used a seam ripper! Woohoo!Mine is nearly as perfect as her union jacks,but I am satisfied with it, and I hope Erica likes it!

This was the first block I made for the bee.It was for Kerry and the theme was collection/hoarding.

And this is the dessert block for Anna, the secondblock I made for the bee. This is my favorite so far.

The third one is this door block for Lisa,which I blogged about recently.

Now I've been contemplating the next block,for Lucinda whose theme is Beginning of Spring.That sounds interesting too, doesn't it?

I've always loved writing and sending letters andpackages. Something about the idea of whatever Ishipped being delivered has always fascinated me too.I also LOVE receiving anything in the mail too.(I'm sure you all do!) Sometimes Joe and I havea little argument over who is to check the mail becausewe both share the joy of receiving things in the mail.Often Joe wins, but he gets disappoited almost everytime, because about 80% of stuff in the mail is for me :D

I hope your week started off nicely and the rest ofyour week will be filled with laughter and crafty moments :)

Sunday, February 20, 2011

This is another thing I had been itching to share withyou! I can't believe how long I waited to post this!

Have you checked out the current issue of Stitch?It's been about a month since this became availableon the bookstands, so you might have heard aboutthis a lot by now, but I still want to talk about it :)

This issue is, once again, packed with lots ofunique and fun projects that make me want to gosit at my sewing table and start playing with my fabricsright away. Did you know that, starting with this issue,Stitch became a 'quarterly' magazine from a 'biannual'magazine due to its growing popularity?!

I'm really glad that Stitch has been making lotsof progress to make this awesome magazine availableto many readers. For example...

1) We can now sign up forAuto-ship program to receive this magazineat a discounted price. (Free shipping within the US,$5 international shipping.)

2) The mag became available for digital downloads here!(Past issues are available too!)

3) A purchase of an individual project inthe past issues became available here.They are now working on this - we'll probablysee more projects available for individual purchase soon :)

I don't know how, but I seem to be still survivingas a Stitch's project contributor among such a creative bunch.Coming up with projects for this magazine, making actualprojects, seeing them in actual magazines, andhearing feedback.. each and every step has beena bit intimidating, but I can't describe how happyI feel about being able to experience all this too.Stitch editors as well as many readers have beenvery supportive of my work and I can't thank them (and you!) enough.

This is a hot pad with chipmunk applique on.Maybe letting this cute guy warm you upisn't such a bad idea.. :)

Another project of mine featured in this issueis the set of this kitchen towels! (Next tomy project is a felt pillow by Lisa thatmade the cover of this issue! I love the pillow!)

Making these was a lot of fun!Of course you can find patterns for all theapplique in the magazine issue. I *might* havesome super exciting news about these towelslater, maybe in a few months... :D

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Before I have another super lengthy post aboutthe Japan trip (next one is going to be aboutfabrics + etsy sales), maybe I can have a few shortposts so that I am not stealing too much of your time?

This is a block I made for Lisa for Ringo Pie bee.January was Lisa's month and her theme was "Door".When she told us about this theme, itwas around Christmas season and my mind was totallyset for a door with a window with a Christmas tree behind it.

But you know it's been over a month since lastChristmas. I even saw a dumpster with a bigChristmas tree inside the other day. So how abouta Christmas tree going goodbye... oh no..that would be too sad.

Let's keep the tree. Oh how about addingwindows, packages at the door, and a mail box?!Wait, the theme is Door, I am not supposed tocreate a whole house. ok.. then..

No more packages and a mail box, but how abouta little welcome "OPEN" board on the door?Hmmm.. the board might be more fun if it says "LISA"How about people peeking from windows? No that's weird.

Ok, no people but a LISA board. Looking better.How about her puppy Moose coming out of the door?!?!I was sooooooo excited about the idea and spentsome time researching on Moose and seeing howI can paper-piece him..... umm.. that'd be waybeyond my basic paper-piecing skills. Definitelydon't ruin the image of the cute Moose!

After all, this is the block I finished this morning.I am just keeping my fingers crossed that thisturned out to be acceptable and that it is almostup to quality of everyone else's door block.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Thank you so much everyone for letting me know thatyou enjoyed the post on Tokyo Quilt Festival 2011. It meansa lot to me that I can share the joy of discovering inspirationalquilts with you, because I don't have very many friends inreal life who are as crazy about this kind of stuff as I am.The love is a gazillion times better when it's shared!

Like I mentioned before, this is going to be a ridiculouslylong post again, but this is the post I was the MOST excitedabout sharing.. it's about the Suzuko Koseki project thatwere completed by 19 Suzuko Koseki fans in 9 differentcountries! (I realized it was not 8 but 9 different countries- so sorry for everyone in the project that I kept sayingit was 8.) Basically, each of us made a 4.5" x 4.5" coasterfeaturing one of letters in "We Love Suzuko Koseki!" Allthe coasters were mailed to my home in Japan were put togetherby me and were gifted to Suzuko Koseki in person at theTokyo Quilt Festival. I thought this was a great way forus to show our appreciation on how inspirational her fabricand books have been to us. I thought it would be really nicefor her to know how she has many fans all over the world too.

After coming up with the idea though, I realized I mighthave been a bit too adventurous. What if I don't haveenough folks to create "We Love Suzuko Koseki!"? What ifany of the coasters sent to me in Japan were lost in transit?What if I don't get to meet Suzuko Koseki for some reasons?What if my cats mess up these coasters while I was gone?... I had lots and lots of things to worry about..

But you know what, I definitely worried too much.I had more than enough folks to make this projectpossible. All the coasters were delivered to my placesafely and on time. I did get to meet Suzuko Koseki.My cats didn't mess up the coasters. (I kept them inmy suitcase zipped up completely.) So it all went well.

I'd like to introduce everyone who participated inthis project along with the coaster she made for Suzuko,and then I want to tell you all about meetingSuzuko Koseki as well as show you lots of picturestaken at her booth at the festival.

The first coaster to kick off this project wasmade by Saskia in Switzerland!A very interesting thing aboutthis SK project was that you'll see a wide varietyof techniques used to express a letter on a coaster.Saskia was the only one who used the silk-screeningtechnique to get her "W." Really neat, isn't it?!

This is by Hoyoyi who lives in Malaysia!Her coaster is very original in that it was theonly one made with felt and was the onlycoaster that flew over from Asia! My sisterwas totally in love with this perfectly prettycoaster - I had to make sure she wouldn't steal it!

What can I say about this coaster made byKerry? Kerry was the first person I approachedwhen I came up with this project's idea, because Iknow she is a huge fan of Suzuko Koseki and she knowsthe best way to put SK fabrics together! This coasterwas fully made from SK fabrics and the little bell isso special because it is Suzuko's trademark!(Suzuko's Suzu means "bell".) Check out her

This heart coaster was made by Megan in America!Can you believe that this heart is made ofteeny tiny squares of SK fabric that are neatlyand perfectly sewn on the linen background?Such a lovely and innovative creation!

This "V" coaster made by Almut in Germanyreminds me of Suzuko Koseki's style SO much,which I truly love!! The backing of thiscoaster was SK's kitchen utensils print fabricwho was a perfect match with this!

And this is the E coaster I made. I came upwith this design to use as many SK fabricsas possible. I messed up by making it a lotbigger than it was supposed to be, so I fixedit while I was in Japan.

Amisha had to be a part of this project becauseshe seems to be a big collector of SK fabrics!Lots of fabrics she used for her coaster areSK's and look how fun it is when they are puttogether like this! Great coasterto start off Suzuko's "S"!

This sunshine-like coaster was made byMarit in Norway who's super good at piecingfabrics together! I really like her quiltsthat has pieced Norwegian words featured.So happy that she agreed to join this project.

Everything about this Z coaster is very creativeand is very 'Amy' in Australia! She goes to Japanquite often to search for fun fabric finds! I lovehow she finds lots of SK fabric in Japan! If you haven'tchecked out a great sale at her online store,you definitely should!

Another coaster flown over from Australia isthis really stylish one made by Belinda!She has such a great collection of SK fabricsthat makes me drool. What a great way touse SK's typography fabric like that?!

Although I knew how busy she is, I couldn'thelp myself inviting Jan to be part of thisproject because she too has such an amazingSK fabric stash! This breathtaking designmade many of my friends wow!

I really can't think of a better fabric combinationfor the SK's buttons print fabric! Look how the"O" echoes with the round buttons too!! Chawneis so good at coming up with perfect combination!

Irene made a really cool K coaster to startwith Suzuko's last name! I love how the fabricsshe used are very contrasting with each other.Very, very Suzuko-ish!!!

Logcabin, pink, Sk fabrics - it's like everythingI like! (Why am I sounding like it was for me?it is of course in Suzuko's hands now!)Linda makes such beautiful things!

Nanette has been so inspirational for meever since I discovered her blog in blog land.A house with a door and a windowwith a strawberry - what a fun way to playwith SK fabrics while featuring the "S"?!

This impeccable 'e' coaster was made by Sardaana inAustria and she owns her shop where she sells her super cute creations and lots of unusual fabric(such as Suzuko Koseki's fabrics!) I reallyloved how this coaster felt in my hands.

I think the first time I found Penny was whenshe posted the famous quilt-along project.No question how I became a fan of her instantly.She too loves Suzuko Koseki styles and I wasjust thrilled that she decided to join us!

Manuela came up with this perfect cursive "i"coaster! The vintage style fabric she usedfor the letter is a great match with the SKpolka dots fabric used for the binding!!

Aren't these all so super creative?! I can't thankeveryone enough for how hard they worked to makeinteresting coasters with lots of love for Suzuko.

Now let me tell you about my adventure to meet Suzuko Koseki in person for the very first time!

I sent her an email beforehand to let her knowthat I have something I made with her fansoverseas and that I would like to give it to her on the 27th of January. Soon, I got a replyfrom her staff saying that she would let Suzukoknow about me and that I should be able to seeher around 3pm at her shop vendor.

I was rather nervous than excited about thisopportunity coming up. Like I said many times,Suzuko Koseki's sewing and quilting style has been the most influential for me. I stronglybelieve that I would not have developed thismuch love for fabric and sewing without her.A big statement, I know, but it's very true.

So I was tremendously nervous about meetingher in person. Can I do a good job telling herhow inspirational she has been without freaking out?Would I look OK and appropriate? Can I really tell her how popular her fabric and books have been all overthe world? Wouldn't I bother her by trying to take the time to present our gift (coasters) for her?

But once again, I worried too much.Suzuko was such a sweet, laid-back andapproachable person who welcomed me so warmly.

She said she couldn't believe it when herstaff told her about our gift made byfolks in 9 different countries. She didn't even know that there is anybody who knowsabout her in America. I, of course, told herhow popular her textile and books have inspiredmany crafters in not only America but othercountries. I also told her that I am very oftenasked about where I got my SK fabrics and howand where they can be found at.

Having our gift in hands, Suzuko was so happy.I don't know how many times she said"oh my goodness, I am so happy about this.I can't even describe how much I appreciate this.Please let everyone know how much I love this."

She said it was her very first time to receive a gift like this and that made me so happy.She also said that she is probably going todecorate her room with our coasters too!

I got to chat with her about 20 mins there.In the meantime, she took me to her booth atthe show that was, of course, the mostgorgeous booth there!

She was so nice to suggest that we take picturestogether in her booth. With her special permission,I got some pictures with her with her newest quilt in background. She also let me spend some timetaking close-up pictures of everything in the booth!

I know I said I really liked many quilts at theshow, but really, everything I saw at her boothtook me to a different level of "I LOVE THIS!"

We talked about a lot of things, but I remembervery clearly is that she said she has an extendedfamily who resides in Davis in California.It was really exciting to know that she came tosee the family last year and traveled around San Francisco. That is quite a bit close towhere I live - San Jose!

We also talked about my hubby.I told her that I recently got married toan American guy who even knows about herbecause I talk about her too much. She was giddy.

I also brought up about her upcomingbook that will be published in America.I told her how excited we are about it.

We also talked about Seattle, the city she loves and I used to live. She saidshe really enjoys the nature in Seattle.

And of course I had many questions about these amazing things at her booth. I thoughtshe made every single thing, but she saidher students (she teaches many quilting classesthroughout the year) help her with these a lot.Fir example, all these flowers as well asbread and macarons were made by her students.

It was really exciting to see some of her creationsthat were featured in her books. I was really excitedto tell her that I tried to make one of the pillows she had there but failed.

You might have seen this cushion in one of her books :)

Oh another thing I learned there was thatmany things she uses for her crafty workcome from American souvenirs from her friends.

She also travels to France very often. (no wonder!)Every once a while I see some articles in Japanese magazines calling for folks to join a trip to France with Suzuko.One day, I want to sign up! ..one day!!

It was a lot of fun chatting with her and takingpictures at her booth, but what I remember the mostfrom these pictures is my nerve tension and mysweaty hands. lol.

Oh before I say a goodbye today, I want to tell youhow generous Suzuko was for me! She said she wouldfeel really bad about not being able to thankeach member individually, so she kindly asked me toshare these fabrics from her newest textile collection!She didn't let me pay for them.

I was sooooo happy at the thought that all 19 of ushad something that went to Tokyo Quilt festivaland have something that we brought back from it.

I chopped off all the fabric last night to share them with everyone who participated inthis project. I'm really excited about everyone having SK fabric literally given from SK!!

Thank you so much for reading this LONGESTpost ever! I am so happy I finally got to share!And a BIG thank you again for everyone whomade this project possible! I truly appreciate your support and love!

Thanks for stopping by my blog! My name is Ayumi. I love sharing my crafty journal and other little anecdotes in my life here. I am a mother to a baby girl and a wife to my husband from Seattle. We live in a small apartment in Tokyo. I hope you enjoy being here :) Welcome♪